Back in August of 2015 we reported that legendary director Martin Scorsese will be making a film about America’s first documented serial killer H. H. Holmes, titled ‘The Devil in the White City’. Since then news about the film has been silent, until now.
Scorsese has had his hands full on other projects including ‘Silence’, but now that the film is approaching its theatrical release, he will be able to turn his attention to ‘The Devil in the White City’.
Scorsese recently spoke with the Toronto Sun and gave an update on the highly-anticipated true crime thriller.
One of the things that I had to stop for the past six months,” Scorsese stated about ‘Silence, “was my meetings on the script. They want me to start again in January and see if we can find a because its an extraordinary story.”
Paramount bought the rights to the 2003 book ‘The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America’, written by Erik Larson, which inspired the screenplay written by Billy Ray (The Hunger Games). The book is set during the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair. It explores the true stories about architect Daniel H. Burnham and killer H. H. Holmes.
Leonardo DiCaprio will star as the infamous killer who has long been considered America’s first documented serial killer. He built an expansive hotel with hidden traps and rooms designed as gas chambers, later referred to as “The Murder Castle”. He rid himself of the bodies of his victims by stripping and bleaching the skeletons and sold them to schools and doctors. When caught, Holmes confessed to murdering twenty-seven, but officers believed that the number was actually much higher, around 200.
Scorsese and DiCaprio have a long history of working together. DiCaprio starred in Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall street’, ‘The Departed’, ‘Shutter Island’ and ‘Gangs of New York’.
Image: TheFilmStage.com
We will keep you updated as the film develops.
